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Tag Archives: World Cinema
Review: Shoplifters (2018)
The list of Japanese films about petty crime and forgotten underclasses is short. The other that immediately springs to mind is TOKYO GODFATHERS and like Satoshi Kon’s Christmas animation, SHOPLIFTERS follows an unconventional family unit brought together on the streets … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Drama, Hirokazu Koreeda, Jyo Kairi, Kirin Kiki, Lily Franky, Mayu Matsuoka, Miyu Sasaki, Sakura Andô, Satoshi Kon, Shoplifters, Tokyo Godfathers, World Cinema
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Review in Brief: Errementari (2017/18)
ERREMENTARI is a little gothic gem. It feels like what would happen if Guillermo del Toro remade one of James Whale’s darker Universal Horror films. “Errementari” is Basque for blacksmith, so appropriately this tells the tale of a village blacksmith … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Black Comedy, Errementari, Guillermo del Toro, Horror, James Whale, Kandigo Uranga, Uma Bracaglia, World Cinema
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Review in Brief: Manhunt (2017/18)
Surprise, surprise, John Woo’s latest is very John Woo. MANHUNT’s action may take a while to really ramp up, but once it does you’ve got more people flying through the air, sliding along surfaces and rapidly expending and replacing guns … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Action, Hanyu Zhang, John Woo, Manhunt, Martial Arts, Masaharu Fukuyama, Netflix, World Cinema
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Review: Mary and the Witch’s Flower (2017)
MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER, the first film from Studio Ghibli successors Studio Ponoc looks stunning, but it does feel insubstantial. That’s not to say it’s bad, it’s just not really about much. I’m prepared to forgive a lot because … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Psychokinesis (2018)
What does Yeon Sang-ho, do after directing companion zombie thrillers TRAIN TO BUSAN and SEOUL STATION? Why a comedy-soap-superhero movie, of course! PSYCHOKINESIS follows a deadbeat dad (Ryu Seung-ryong) using telekinetic superpowers acquired from meteorite-contaminated springwater to save his daughter … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Comedy, Ryu Seung-ryong, Seoul Station, Shim Eun-kyung, Superhero Movie, Train to Busan, World Cinema, Yeon Sang-ho
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Review in Brief: Blade of the Immortal (2017)
BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL is one-man filmmaking army Takashi Miike’s 100th feature and arguably his largest scale project to date. I doubt the man who makes Ridley Scott look sluggish even broke a sweat (only a film a year, Ridders? … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Blade of the Immortal, Hana Sugisaki, Highlander, Martial Arts, Ridley Scott, Takashi Miike, Takuya Kimura, Thriller, World Cinema
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Review in Brief: Bloody Milk (2017)
It really has been the year for depressing farming dramas hasn’t it? First-time UK filmmakers gave us THE LEVELLING and GOD’S OWN COUNTRY, now comes France’s offering, BLOODY MILK. Director Hubert Charuel must have drawn on some of his own … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Bloody Milk, Drama, God's Own Country, Hubert Charuel, Swann Arlaud, The Levelling, World Cinema
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Review in Brief: The Villainess (2017)
Creative fight choreography and full-on violence is one thing, but what really blew me away about THE VILLAINESS was the cinematography. I can’t even begin to imagine how they achieved some of these impossible shots. For once a POV action … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Kim Ok-bin, Martial Arts, The Raid, The Villainess, Thriller, World Cinema
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Review in Brief: Toni Erdmann (2016)
Pretty much every review I’ve seen of TONI ERDMANN has been focussed on how unexpectedly good a two-and-a-half hour German comedy turns out to be. I find that overly reductive and more than a little patronising. American comedies are often … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Film Review
Tagged Black Comedy, Jack Nicholson, Maren Ade, Sandra Hüller, Toni Erdmann, World Cinema
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